29 August 2011

art afternoon


My friend Chiori and I met with our boys at the Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University this afternoon for the last day of the Art of the Book in California show. We ended up going through most of the wings, so got to see unique books, antique books, African art, contemporary Bay Area artists and of course, the famous collection of Rodin sculptures.

Here are some of the beautiful books:







Some of the Rodin collection:




A few of the modern pieces:


And a huge sculpture of metal that one could enter inside and see ever-changing curves of metal, light and shadow:




Iced coffee in the cafe', a walk around the Stanford campus (boys shooting ahead on scooters), a pause in the shade for sketching and admiring the architecture, and soon the sun was setting. A perfect afternoon, I'd say!


Quick sketch that I'll send to Chiori for happy memories.

7 comments:

Annarack said...

You look like you had a lovely day. I am in awe of that Alice and Wonderland book. The architecture is stunning.

Dana Carey said...

That's a beautiful sketch, Kimi! Well drawn and great colors. :)

kimi said...

Thanks Anna & Dana!

The Alice book was definitely one of the highlights of the show. It's from around 1890. I also love the architecture on campus. The arches, especially, are so beautiful.

We had fun sketching, thank you! The actual sketch ended up on a slant somehow, so I straightened it out for the blog photo. I suppose I shall have to practice more on-the-spot urban sketching. :)

Erika Lee @ A Tiny Rocket said...

it looks like such a great afternoon- i always love strolling the art museum. Rodin is so classic. I went to his museum in Paris and loved seeing all the molds and sketches.

Such a great urban sketch :) lots of gorgeous detail.

SaylorMade said...

What a wonderful day!

kimi said...

Hi Erika! Nice to meet you! The Rodin sculptures were quite impressive ~ though when we got home my son told my husband, "We saw lots of giant naked people!" :) The docent said that Rodin always sculpted the nude figure first and then added clothing (using cheesecloth and more clay) only after he was satisfied with the body structure. It's quite fascinating to see the strokes where his fingers pushed the clay visible in the cast bronze.

Kye Sangha said...

I've been to a Rodin sculpture garden in the UK...man, he must have been so bipolar. Or suicidal. Well, his work is either sublime or suicidal, anyway!